How Facebook Changes Our Lives

New Social Settings- Cyber Settings and Cyber Socializing

I am very grateful for new social settings such as Facebook and Orkut. They help me to stay in contact with family and friends around the world. Now, when I run into an old (but not that old, really) classmate or a cousin that I haven't seen in a while, we no longer have to start at square one... "So, what's new?" For me, this is the toughest open-ended question to answer when I haven't spoken to someone for a year or so.

So yes, there is a fondness in my heart for such social cyber gathering places.

There are a few things that strike me as funny though, and I will share them here.

Have you ever witnessed a fight brewing on the wall of one of these cyber-settings? No longer are arguments distastefully sprung only upon family members, friends or the innocent bystanders in a parking lot. People are now firing at each other from the flimsy walls of Facebook and in front of their network!

What do you consider to be true unsolicited advice? It took a bit more than I expected, but I did find a definition in the Cambridge online dictionary, simply- not requested... So, what if your friend is sharing his or her not-so-love-life with their social network and you offer a suggestion. Is this unsolicited advice? Does the fact that this person is indiscriminately sharing their personal information with the cyber-world (sometimes this information is posted on the walls of people who are not directly networked with you!) automatically qualify them as being open for advice or opinion. Why else would they share if they did not expect some kind of exchange with their network. What do you think? Is a person soliciting advice if they share their issues with their online network?

Why do you participate in cyber settings? Keep in contact with people, know all the latest that is going on with people, to hear it "from the horses mouth", business networking, to teach? What other venue would you find such a large group of people communing in some fashion without a common specific purpose other than to be in contact and linked together?

It's amazing to see the new social structure that is resulting from technology. Certainly Wikipedia, online networking and international gaming teams are fantastic examples of how order and teamwork can come from sharing a common yet general focus. Would we all tend to get along better if we mostly socialized and conducted ourselves through technology?

Kids are spelling in a new lingo of "textonics" which appalls most grammatically-centered adults. Language does evolve and there is good reason to hold onto tradition while adapting to the new age. Kids can read and recognize words at a younger age. They are a generation swimming in a new form of communication. They communicate more predominantly with those whom use the media or even language with which they communicate.

Many of us have taught our kids that communication is the key. Well, these kids seem quite intent on communicating. Now, to communicate effectively, a few things they need are the tact and wisdom that come with many attempts to come to a resolve with others. May we suggest, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie? Certainly, with the desire to communicate as this generation has, the training of such aforementioned teachers and a common focus of cooperation, this next generation can develop into something wonderful that the world really needs. Or are they really the incompetent group as any see them?

What are your thoughts?